Hatred and bigotry are more prevalent than many realize.
With President Donald Trump’s reelection, the federal government will soon be on the run — from equal rights. With the growth of the MAGA movement, major corporations have already been headed in that direction, afraid to be labeled as “woke” by the right. Companies that have already abolished or diminished their diversity, equity and inclusion policies include Amazon, Meta, McDonald’s, American Airlines, Boeing, Caterpillar, Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere and Lowe’s.
Credit: Courtesy Photo
Credit: Courtesy Photo
In April 2022, while signing Georgia’s supposedly enlightened “divisive concepts” law, Gov. Brian Kemp said, “Here in Georgia, our classrooms will not be pawns to those who indoctrinate our kids with their partisan political agendas.”
This misguided, naive bill made it illegal for Georgia public school educators to teach the historical truth about racism, including that the United States was once “fundamentally racist.” The bill also restricted teachers from teaching anything about racism that might make a student “feel anguish, guilt or any other form of.”
Kemp signed the bill one year after the sentencing of three white men for killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old black jogger near Brunswick. I wonder if Arbrey felt any “discomfort or stress” when he was murdered in cold blood in a clearly racist attack?
His only crime was “RWB.” In other words, he was running while Black in a white neighborhood.
It took a very long time, and pressure from vocal advocates, for this case to even be prosecuted by reluctant district attorneys. More than a year later, those three white men, including a local police officer, were convicted of murdering Arbery.
There is a misguided, willfully ignorant push from MAGA to declare bigotry a thing of the past. Tucker Carlson says it’s a “hoax,” “not a problem.” Therefore, there’s no need to assure there will be no discrimination in government.
The GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee passed a bill that would do away with federal offices and guidelines promoting DEI in the federal government and its contractors. Significantly, the bill was passed 23-17, with no Democrat voting for it.
The committee misinterpreted governmental DEI efforts, saying that DEI is unjust, promoting discrimination and division, while ignoring merit. This view is incorrect, reflecting an overly naive view of our society.
Bigotry is alive, as shown by the large number of hate crimes, including the racist Arbery killing. National and state data is poorly maintained and publicized, with 42% of these assaults going unreported. A U.S. Department of Justice report, covering 2005-2019, showed 250,000 hate crimes.
Michael Lieberman of the Southern Poverty Law Center detailed the national history and targets of hate crimes. Per Liebman, “the victim’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability is the reason for the crime.”
Most incidents were characterized by innocent victims being assaulted by pure strangers, usually men (74%). Race, ethnicity and national origin of the victims accounted for 60% of violent attacks. One fourth of these crimes were gender based. Another 20% of victims were assaulted because of their sexual orientation. Religiously based attacks, predominantly against Jews, accounted for another 9%. Hispanics were 22% of violent hate crime victims but only 16% of the U.S. population.
The SPLC indicates that there are currently 49 hate groups in our own state of Georgia. These organizations range from general hate groups like the Proud Boys to white nationalists like the Patriot Front.
Protesters from groups like these held a widely condemned rally in Newnan in 2018. Organized by the National Socialist Movement, a white nationalist hate group, they burned crosses and gave Nazi salutes. Although there were 100 counterprotesters, there was no violence. As opposed to the Charlottesville, Va., white power rally in 2017, during which many were injured and one counterprotester was killed.
The annals of racism are also the history of the United States and Georgia. Go to the Montgomery Civil Rights Memorial Center and look at the exhibits if you wish to learn more, including about the many lynchings of black Georgians.
We fought a bloody Civil War over civil rights. Wishing it away does not change that fact — or the truth that racism still exists in America.
Jack Bernard, a retired business executive and former chair of the Jasper County Commission and Republican Party, was the first director of health planning for Georgia.
About the Author
